Painting Night – The Owlbear

Step one: Priming

For me any generic primer would do the trick. Since the sculpt was resin I wanted to use something that was not just for hobby use. So opting for a Rustoleum Cream primer I got started.

Step two: Overbrush.

Now while not a mandatory step by any means overbrushing can add in some extra highlights if you are using washes, shades or the constrast-esque paints that are available. Tonight I used Army Painter Matt White as the overbrush paint

Step three: Feathers part one

The next part for me was deciding if I wanted to go a dark grey owlbear or a brown on. White is a bit of a harder one to do and coming from a cream base brown or grey would show up well. Opting for Brown I selected Citadels Garaghak’s Sewer paint and applied it as evenly as I could for the first part.

Creating some variety in the colour I applied a second thinner coat in the thicker feathered areas to create a visual contrast.

Step four: Drybrush – Feathers Part two – Brightening the feathers

Using Citadels Mournfang brown and a small makeup brush (definitely a dry brush… not from my wife’s make up kit…) I did a light drybrush over the feathers. Any parts I wanted to really brighten (around the fact) I also targeted with a small layer brush.

Looking at the photos the difference is subtle.. Nearly too subtle. But there was definitely some highlighted parts.

Part Five: The Bear-beans

Now just like Cats owlbears have little toe-beans… Ok maybe not but for this I did a two step approach to get a different skin tone for them. Starting off with a thinned layer of Citadels Khorne red I then hit it with Citadels Gorthor Brown. this gave it a more fleshy colouration than the brown itself and broke it up from the brown of the feathers.

Step Six: Claws and beak part one

This one is a nice simple step. Hitting with a fine point brush just the beak and the claws with Army Painters Necromancer Cloak – Maybe my second favourite Grey. A small, quick and easy step. Using the same paint I also did a overbrush on the rocks to add an extra layer of texture to the grey stones.

Step Seven: Eyes

Now the eyes were done in two parts – but for simplicity sake I will upload discuss it here as one step. Taking Citadels Yriel Yellow and Army Painters Matt Black I painted the eyes. I chose a direction for the bear to be looking and using the brush I created pupils looking nearly in the same direction.

Step Eight: Claws and beak Part two

Using Army Painter Skeleton bone I attempted to edge highlight the beak and claws. Nothing fancy here.

Step Nine: Basing – The log

Using Citadels Wyldwood Contrast I painted the log. Adding some black paint (AP Matt Black) paint into the mix for the open hollow to ensure it was darker.

Step Ten: Basing – The sand and rocks

Electing to make the gap between the rocks and the log a sandy stream I used Army Painters Desert Yellow, which is nicer than their Daemonic Yellow by a long shot, to create a sand colour. Hitting up the bits of the base where there wasn’t rocks or the log. The rocks I then hit with Citadels Basilicanum Grey (probably my favourite multi-purpose paint). This was a simple step so not many steps.

Step Eleven: Final touches for my Painting Night – The Owlbear

The final touches were a bit easier for me. Coming from a place in Australia where the rainforests have plenty of wet rivers running through rock and log filled streams its rare to not see them covered in moss or algae. So adding Citadels Coelia greenshade wash over the entire base, removing some from the sang, I wanted to reflect this green, forest look in the base.

I then used Vallejo’s water texture to try and get a wet, river appearance between the log and the rocks.

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